Maria Minerva Pacheco

“...A mother is much more than the person who brings us into the world and gives us life. Her body is the first home we ever know. Her voice is the voice that calms and comforts us before we understand words or language. Her hands are the hands that carry us and hold us before we know how to stand. Throughout our life our mother carries our worries, our mistakes, our joys, and our dreams as though they were her own....”

Maria Minerva Saldivar Pacheco, 94, our mother, passed away on August 2, 2026, after a long life marked by devotion to family, faith, perseverance, optimism, and education.

Maria Minerva, was born on June 19, 1932, in San Benito, Texas, to Gabriel Saldivar and Maria Ramos Saldivar. One of eleven children, she spent much of her early childhood at La Coyota Ranch in the Rio Hondo and Arroyo City area of Cameron County before her family of origin later settled in San Benito.

Her childhood years were marked by a very different time. She came of age during the second world war, at a time when formal education was not always emphasized for young girls. As a young girl, our mother Maria Minerva remembered working long hours in the cotton fields alongside members of her family. Nevertheless, she managed to persevere and ultimately graduated from San Benito High School in 1953. That achievement would likely and unknowingly become the beginning of a lifelong desire for and journey in Education.

As a young woman, Maria Minerva worked at the C. R. Anthony Department Store in San Benito, eventually serving as an Assistant Manager. In 1957, she met Federico Pacheco, our Dad. They married the following year in 1958 and began a partnership that would last for nearly 63 years, until our father Federico's passing in December 2020. Together they raised three children: Maria, Juanita, and Carlos Arturo.

After marriage and the birth of her children, Maria continued seeking opportunities to learn and grow. She attended McAllen Business School, earned a vocational certificate, and worked as a bookkeeper at the Fairway Hotel in the Edinburg-McAllen area.

Maria Minerva lived with her family and worked in McAllen for more than 18 years before moving to Hebbronville, Texas, in 1977. By then our Mom (Maria) had already begun moving toward the career that would define much of her professional life. In 1973 she became a teacher’s aide at Central School in McAllen, which at the time served the children of migrant farm workers.

Then, with the encouragement of Dad and her family, she returned to college. At the age of 47, she earned her Bachelor of Science in Education from Texas A&I University in Kingsville in 1980--and only two years later--she earned her master’s degree in education in 1982.

Maria began her career as a classroom teacher at Mirando City Elementary School. Over the years, she also taught school at Hebbronville Elementary (Jim Hogg ISD), Sullivan City (La Joya ISD), Wilson Elementary and Escandon Elementary (McAllen ISD), and finally Dan Ramirez Elementary at PSJA ISD. Her career in education ultimately spanned more than thirty years.

As a mother, Maria Minerva was nurturing, kind and thoughtful. Although she had a deep capacity and tenderness for the people she loved, she was also strong-willed, direct, and never afraid to speak her mind, or fiercely argue a point. She felt things deeply. Her convictions could be firm, her emotions unmistakable, and her personality fiery. This is what made our mother unique. She could be equally gentle and tough, both qualities which were authentically our Mom.

As a mother, her love could be seen in small gestures that were never forgotten. For example, when we were children, if Mom happened to hug or kiss one of her children, she would make a point of finding the others and showing them the same affection. She told them that she had learned this from her own mother, Grandma Maria: if affection was given to one child, it should be given to all. It was a simple lesson passed from one generation of mothers to another, and one that remained with her children throughout their lives.

For her entire adult life, our mother tried to remain continuously connected to her family in San Benito. In her later years, she enjoyed playing bingo and trying her luck at “las maquinitas,” but she was continually drawn back to San Benito. For as long as her health permitted, she returned there to spend time with her surviving sisters and to remain connected to the family and community from which she came.

She showed great pride and love for her granddaughters, Allison and Audrey, as well as her step granddaughters, Sarah and Samantha, always encouraging my sister Maria and her late husband Salvador, as well as I to be sure to always extend her invitation to her adult and younger age grandchildren to come and stay with her any time they wanted. Her Grandchildren and their happiness and health remained a source of great pride and importance to her until the final days of her life.

Our Mother’s Catholic faith was also important to her. For her entire life, mother’s belief in God and the Lord Jesus Christ remained part of her life. She continued praying the Rosary nightly even into her final years, carrying with her to the end a practice of prayer that had accompanied her throughout much of her lifetime.

Maria was preceded in death by her beloved husband, Federico Pacheco; her parents, Gabriel Saldivar and Maria Ramos Saldivar; her son-in-law, Salvador Garcia; and her siblings Juan Saldivar, Lucy Saldivar Amaya, Bernardo Saldivar, Samuel Saldivar, Walo Saldivar, Rafael Saldivar, and Lola Treviño.

She is survived by her children, Maria O. Pacheco, Juanita Pacheco, and Carlos Arturo Pacheco and his wife, Sandra; her granddaughters, Allison, Audrey, Sarah and Samantha, as well as her surviving siblings, Amanda DeLaRosa of San Benito, Tina Amaya of San Benito, and Jose “Chepe” Saldivar of Houston, along with extended family members, former students, friends, and others whose lives she touched during her lifetime.

In celebration of our mother’s life and faith, there will be a Catholic Mass celebrated at St. John the Baptist Church in San Juan, Texas (216 W. 1st Street San Juan 78589) on Wednesday August 12th at 10 AM. Afterward, from 2 PM to 9 PM, a Rosary and Viewing will be held at Legacy Chapels in Edinburg, Texas (4610 South Jackson Rd. Edinburg, Texas 78539).

A private family interment will take place following cremation on Friday August 14th, when our mother will be laid to rest with our father Federico, surrounded by her children, grandchildren, and her surviving siblings.

Funeral service will be at 10 a.m. Wednesday, August 12 2026, at St. John The Baptist Catholic Church in San Juan. Public Visitation will be from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. with a 7 p.m. rosary Wednesday, August 12 2026, at Legacy Chapels 4610 S. Jackson Road in Edinburg. Inurnment will be at 11 a.m. Friday, August 14, 2026, at Rio Grande Valley State Veterans Cemetery in Mission.

Funeral services are under the direction of Legacy Chapels in Edinburg.